Abram contests Siebert's idea of becoming elephants in order to understand their plight when he says that "we cannot know, with the same familiarity and intimacy the lived experience of a grass snake or a snapping turtle. " Abram is right in saying that becoming elephants is a dramatic exaggeration of the "trans-specie-psyche". Any living species today has evolved over millions of years and it is impossible to acquaint ourselves with every minute detail that marks their evolution.By suggesting that every living species is as intricate as another, Abram claims that the degree of familiarity that Siebert suggests to attain is a distant dream. It is funny how Abram completely disowns his own idea of an "animistic perspective" with this claim. It is also interesting to note how Siebert puts forth the idea of extreme empathy when he had earlier commented that "preservation of self image" would be the key element behind human want for saving the Elephant.
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